Potting Compost For Half Arsed Walstad Wanna-be

[ChrisC]

Hi all.
The christmas holidays are a perfect time to refurbish my 20 gal tank (what will all the presents and crap TV, no-one'll notice a few extra fishy things here and there ). Having read the Ecology of the Planted Aquarium, it is incredibly tempting to go with a low-tech approach, although I don't have the willpower to pull the plug on my nice big green external though...

While searching for a suitable substrate I came accross a few bags of J.Arthur Bowers Multi Purpose Compost lying around, and am contemplating whether it would be suitable. The bag doesn't give away much, but one thing that caught my eye was the paragraph which said it containd N, K & PO4 for plant growth. Is this instant death as far as it's concerned or is there still hope? Will the N & PO4 be in sufficient quantities to affect the water much? Any input will be greatfully received.

Chris

 

[dasmall1]

I don't have any experience with that compost in particular, but I use a similar thing for my 29g. It is an infield conditioner for baseball fields called Soilmaster Select and I have no problems with it. Your multi purpose compost should work fine.

Please correct me if I'm completely wrong!



-Sean

 

[ChrisC]

I don't have any experience with that compost in particular, but I use a similar thing for my 29g. It is an infield conditioner for baseball fields called Soilmaster Select and I have no problems with it. Your multi purpose compost should work fine.

Interesting thanks for the feeback. It seems fine in accordance with Walstad's recommendations, I am unsure whether the added fertiliser will cause too much of a spike in levels.

Chris

 

[Fwapp]

I tried compost in the past, but made the schoolboy error of not soaking the peat first. God it made a mess of the tank. Every time I touched the substrate, POOF!! compost every where.

put me off compost, really.

I'm sure you wont be as daft!

 

[ChrisC]

As I take it the technique seems to be to stick it all in a bucket, leave it a week then skim off any remaining soil still floating.

Chris

 

[excaliborg]

I use compost in a tank of mine, it is under a few inches of gravel though... have to be careful not to disturb it. Just make sure you plant your stems nice and deep so the roots can reach the soil. Would think its very very hard to use compost on its own no matter how much you soak it. It's not heavy enough and will just go everywhere if it is touched.